As the Obama Administration plans to implement their recently signed $787 billion rescue plan, one of the areas they will immediately be forced to confront is the ongoing housing crisis. The stimulus gives the Department of Housing and Urban Development $13.6 billion to address the needs of low-income families across the country. Experts say it's a good start, but new HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan is facing an enormous task, as he attempts to overhaul an agency that is facing years of neglect and mounting debt.

Somewhere… in a high school cafeteria… a student is putting mayonnaise on their pizza.

While back in Washington, DC, a powerful group will fight to ensure that pizza goes down with a Pepsi.

Meet the food lobby…

Who decides what our children are eating?

To a large degree, it is the Federal Government. Congress and the Department of Agriculture approve what foods can (and can't) be served to over 30 million American school children who get daily meals from the National School Lunch Program.

The government gets a ton of pressure from a food and beverage industry frantic to keep kids hooked on a diet of sodas, snacks and hot dogs. The competition, for a piece of this $10 billion market, is particularly fierce right now because this year, the School Lunch Program is being reviewed and revised.

Despite the enormous nutritional and financial stakes at play, ANP was the only media to cover a recent panel set up to discuss the school menu. While nutritionists outnumbered the press, corporate lobbyists outnumbered everyone.

So, you know about the Treasury's $700 billion bailout plan. But you probably don't know that the Federal Reserve has lent out about $2 trillion since September. Few do. And that is what's irritating bulldog Congressman Alan Grayson. Will he be able to shed a light on the Fed's secret spending?

The American News Project is dedicated to defending and promoting the public interest through high-quality, investigative video journalism.

http://www.americannewsproject.com

We're inspired by what Joseph Pulitzer wrote more than 130 years ago: "Always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare... always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."

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Shout Box

It was supposed to be the year we finally shattered the glass ceiling. But a sharply split female electorate helped ensure that misogyny and sexism would live to see another day. In this 4x60’ docuseries, we watch as eight American women of opposing political, economic and cultural backgrounds explore the reasons behind their deepest and most visceral divisions, and what can be done to repair the rift. vimeo.com/203382661